Extendable litter scoop

ABSTRACT

A tool for separating animal waste from litter. The tool includes a scoop portion having a bottom, sidewalls and handle. The gripping portion of the handle is composed of flexible material providing a comfortable grip that is easy to clean. Silicone and thermoplastic rubber are excellent choices for such material. The handle is made to telescope from the scoop portion for ease of use and storage. The bottom and sidewalls have cut out portions to facilitate the passage of litter but not a substantial amount of animal waste.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention involves a tool in the form of a handled scoop device configured to remove animal waste from litter.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Owners of domestic cats routinely provide a litter box and often multiple litter boxes if more than one cat resides at a particular household.

Litter boxes can be covered or uncovered and some can also be self cleaning. However, in most instances, in order to avoid unnecessary complexity and result cost, waste is removed from the typical litter box through use of a scoop or similar separating means. This is particularly important recognizing that cats are well known for their sense of hygiene and most will not use a litter box if it is not well maintained. Most cat owners believe that one should scoop any visible waste from the box at least once a day although some cats are so fastidious that they require that their litter box be cleaned after every use.

Scooping waste from a litter box is a reasonably easy task noting that urine clumps into fairly solid chunks of litter and solid waste tends to become coated with the litter material so that it tends not to stick to a scoop removal tool. Nevertheless, prior waste separating tools currently offered are not always ideally suited for the task. For example, typical litter pans are placed on the floor requiring one to bend over to remove waste. Such devices have been configured with fixed handles which if short to facilitate storage, make waste removal difficult due to excessive bending and if long to reduce bending, make storage inconvenient.

It is thus an object of this invention to provide a litter scoop tool improving upon the limitations of the prior art.

These and further objects will become more readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A tool for separating animal waste from litter. The tool includes a scoop portion having a bottom, sidewalls and handle. The gripping portion of the handle is composed of flexible material providing a comfortable grip that is easy to clean. Silicone and thermoplastic rubber are excellent choices for such material. The handle is made to telescope from the scoop portion for ease of use and storage. The bottom and sidewalls have cut out portions to facilitate the passage of litter but not a substantial amount of animal waste.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tool of the present invention with its handle portion in an extended or first orientation.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tool of the present invention with its handle portion retracted or in a second orientation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Novel features which are characteristic of the invention, as to organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof will be better understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for illustration description only and are not intended as definitions of the limits of the invention. The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are recited with particularity in the claims.

There has been broadly outlined more important features of the invention in the summary above and in order that the detailed description which follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form additional subject matter of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based readily may be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important therefore, that claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Certain terminology and the derivations thereof may be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, words such as “upward,” “downward,” “left,” and “right” refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made unless otherwise stated. Similar words such as “inward” and “outward” refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of a device or area and designated parts thereof. Reference in the singular tense include the plural and vice versa, unless otherwise noted.

As noted, the present invention involves a vastly improved tool for separating animal waste from litter. To more fully appreciate the present invention, reference is made to the appended figures.

Turning to FIG. 1, tool 10 is shown having a scoop portion 11 and handle comprised of subparts 16 and 17. Scoop portion 11 is comprised of bottom 12 and sidewalls 13, the later emanating somewhat orthogonally from bottom 12 to provide a capture area such that as ramp 15 is introduced within the volume of litter contained within the litter box, litter together with animal waste would be brought into scoop 11 against bottom 12 and sidewalls 13. Thereupon, the litter and waste would be separated as the litter passes through openings 14, noting that openings 14 are large enough to pass litter but too small to allow animal waste to pass.

A key feature of the present invention is the use of a telescoping handle made of subparts 16 and 17. Users of tools of this nature, it is believed, would prefer a longer handle when employing the tool to separate animal waste from litter but would appreciate a shorter handle when storing such an implement. In meeting these needs, the handle of the present invention can be caused to retract or extend in the direction of arrows 22 by providing a handle having inner shaft 16 and outer sleeve 17. As noted, inner shaft 16 has at least one protrusion 20 while outer sleeve 17 has at least one indent 21, in this case, in the form of an opening, to facilitate the snap-release contact between these elements. Clearly, the at least one protrusion 20 could instead be located on outer sleeve 17 and the at least one indent could be located on inner shaft 16 while remaining within the scope of the present invention. Thus, in storage, the retracted or FIG. 1 orientation is generally deemed desirable while, in use to remove animal waste from litter, the FIG. 2 extended handle version is preferred.

In turning once again to FIGS. 1 and 2, it is noted that outer sleeve 17 is provided with a square or rectangular cross section having a top portion 7, bottom portion 8 and side walls 5 and 6. Ideally, lower portion 8 includes subpart 18 composed of silicone or thermoplastic rubber or similar material that provides a comfortable grip which is easy to clean and not absorbent of odor or bacteria.

The above disclosure is sufficient to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention, and provides the best mode of practicing the invention presently contemplated by the inventor. While there is provided herein a full and complete disclosure of the preferred embodiments of the invention, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction, dimensions, relationships, or operations as described. Various modifications, alternative constructions, changes and equivalents will readily occur to those skilled in the art and may be employed as suitable without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. Such changes might involve alternative materials, components, structural arrangements, sizes, shapes, forms, functions, operational features or the like. Therefore, the above description and illustration should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims. 

1. A tool for separating animal waste from litter, said tool comprising a scoop portion having a bottom, sidewalls and ramp, said bottom and sidewalls having cut out portions to facilitate the passage of litter but not a substantial amount of animal waste therethrough and a handle emanating from said scoop portion, said handle comprising an inner shaft and outer sleeve, said outer sleeve being slidable along said inner shaft facilitating movement of said outer sleeve toward and away from said scoop portion to selectively lengthen and shorten said handle for use of said tool and for storage.
 2. The tool of claim 1 wherein said inner shaft and outer sleeve are provided with at least one protrusion and indent to facilitate snap-release contact between them.
 3. The tool of claim 2 wherein said inner shaft is provided with said at least one protrusion and said outer sleeve is provided with an indent in the form of an opening sized to receive said protrusion.
 4. The tool of claim 1 wherein said sidewalls extend substantially orthogonally from said bottom.
 5. The tool of claim 1 wherein said ramp extends from said bottom and sidewalls extending forward and away from handle.
 6. The tool of claim 1 wherein a segment of said outer sleeve comprises a flexible material.
 7. The tool of claim 6 wherein said outer sleeve is characterized as having a top portion, side walls and a lower portion, said segment of said outer sleeve comprising said lower portion thereof
 8. The tool of claim 6 wherein said flexible material comprises a member selected from the group consisting of silicone and thermoplastic rubber. 